Highway Africa, together with the Partnership for Social Accountability (PSA) Alliance, invites journalists in Southern Africa to apply for the 2nd Southern Africa Media Award in Social Accountability Reporting 2018 as part of the 22nd annual Highway Africa Conference to be held on 29-30 November 2018 in Grahamstown, South Africa.

The award aims to encourage high-quality investigative reporting on issues of social accountability, specifically on HIV / SRHR and food security in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia.

The award recognises three journalists from the PSA Alliance’s project countries – Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia for their outstanding investigative reporting on issues of social accountability related to one of the following categories;
1. HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)
2. Food Security.
Applications will be examined by a panel of media experts in the region, and all three winners will be invited to attend the Highway Africa Conference to be held on 29-30 November 2018 to receive the awards in person.

Three awards will be offered as 1st prize, 2nd prize and 3rd prize.
• USD 450 for 1st prize
• USD 200 for 2nd prize
• USD 100 for 3rd prize
• All travel expenses paid to attend the 2018 Highway Africa Conference for all three winners

• Eligible entries should consist of investigative reporting on issues of social accountability related to HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Food Security
• Applicants must be based in Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique or Zambia.
• Work must be published between August 2017 and October 2018
• Entries can be in any language spoken in the four countries
• Entries can be in Print, Radio, TV, Multimedia and Photo Journalism
• If submitting multiple entries either in the same category or across multiple categories, complete entry for each story to a total maximum of two entries.

26 October 2018 (23:59 GMT +2)

Applicants are strongly encouraged to read through the following documents to fully understand the requirements for the call before applying. Late and incomplete applications will not be accepted.
1. 2017 winning entry
2. 2017 Press release
3. Social Accountability Reporting Explained
4. Adjudication Criteria

5. Social Accountability Reporters Profiles
Applicants should fill in the application form HERE >>

The Partnership for Social Accountability (PSA) Alliance, through the project ‘Strengthening Social
Accountability and Oversight in Health and Agriculture in Southern Africa,’ seeks to improve public
service delivery in agriculture (food security), and health (HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health
and rights). This is done through strengthening the oversight and social accountability roles of five
target groups in the SADC region, specifically: selected parliamentary committees, relevant
government departments, issue-based civil society organisations (CSOs), smallholder farmer
organisations, and the media.
With support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the first three-year
phase (2016-2019) of the project focuses on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. The PSA
Alliance is a consortium of organisations led by ActionAid International (AAI) and including the Public
Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) of Rhodes University, Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale
Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF) and SAfAIDS.

Social accountability is the broad range of actions and mechanisms beyond voting that citizens can use to hold the state to account. It is accountability that relies on civic engagement, namely a situation whereby ordinary citizens and/or civil society organizations participate directly or indirectly in exacting accountability. It is the right of citizens to demand explanations & justifications for the way public resources are spent, and demand corrective action where necessary.